Powder-granulating machine.



No. 695,129. Patented Mar. H, I902.-

M. P. WILKINS & H. C. ASPINWALL. POWDER GRANULATING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 12, 1899.\

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-8heet l.

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' Patented Mar. ll, I902. M. P. WILKINS- 81. H. C. ASPINWALL. POWDER GRANULATING MACHINE.

(Application filed Jan. 12, 1899.)

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

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MONROE P. WVILKINS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND HENRY O. ASPINWALL, OF POMPTON LAKES, NEl'V JERSEY, ASSIGNORS TO THE LAFLIN & RAND POWDER COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 695,129, dated March 11, 1902.

' Application filed January 12,1899. Serial No. 701,916. (No model.

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, MONROE P. WILKINS, a resident of New York, in the'county and State of New York, and I-IENRYO. ASPINWALL, a resident of Pompton Lakes, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, citizens of the United States, have jointly invented a new and useful Improvement in Powder- Granulating Machines, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in powder-granulatin g machines, with the object in view of providing a rapid, efficient, and simple means for cutting rods or cords of smokeless powder into grains of the desired length.

A practical embodiment of our invention is represented in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a view of the machine in top plan, a portion of the casing being broken away to show the cutting-wheel. Fig. 2 is a View of the same in end elevation. Fig.3 is a view in side elevation, and Fig. 4 is a view in vertical section along the line 4t 4 of Fig. 1.

The body of the machine comprises a pair of side supports A A, held securely at the proper distance apart to receive between them the cutting-wheel. The cuttingwheel is mounted between the pieces A A in suitable bearings attached to the upper edges of the pieces A A by means of a shaft B, to which the hub o of the wheel is fixed, the said shaft being provided at one end exterior to the supporting-bed with adrive and idle pulleyD D, and at its opposite end exterior to the bedframe the said shaft carries a spur-wheel E for actuating the feed mechanism. The cutting-wheel is formed of a pair of disks 0 0, arranged parallel to each other and held at the desired distance apart by means of their hub c and also by the knives c, secured to the said disks 0 O at their peripheries and extending transversely across from disk to disk, thereby leaving the interior of the wheel between the knives and the hub open, as well as the periphery between two successive knives. The knives o are set with their outer faces in the plane of the periphery, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, so that the grinding of the knives may take place on their inner sides only, and thereby keep their edges at all times exaetlyin the plane of the periphery of the wheel until the knife is Worn out.

At the feed end of the machine a pair of uprights F F are fixed to the bed-frame and Spaced apart to receive between them the feedrollers. These uprights F F, carrying the feed-rollers, are made bodily adjustable toward and away from the cutting-Wheel to take up wear or to regulate the relative positions of the path of the cutting edges of the knife and the face of theguide through which the rods or cords of powder pass to engage the knives. This adjustment is provided for by elongated slots f in the bases of the uprights, through which the fastening-bolts f extend into the bed-frame. In the present instance We have shown a set of two lower feed rollers and two corresponding upper feed-rollers, the member of the former being denoted by G G and the latter by H H. Each of the four rollers is here provided with two grooves, (denoted, respectively, by 99'.)

The set G G are mounted to rotate together, being fixed to a shaft 1, which carries on its outer end a gear-wheel I. The gear-wheel I intermeshes with a pinion I on an intermediate shaft or axle, and a spur-wheel 1 fixed to rotate with the pinion 1 intermeshes with a pinion 1 on an independent shaft, the pinion 1 being arranged to inter-mesh with the driving-pinion E on the drive-shaft B. The op posite end of the shaft I is provided with a spur-wheel 1 which interineshes with a spurwheel K on a shaft K, to which the set of upper rollers H H are fixed. The shaft K is mounted in vertically-sliding bearings k, the latter being fitted to suitable ways in the uprights F F, and the desired amount of pressureis exerted upon the bearings 70, and hence upon the rollers H H, by means of set-screws 7a 70 which extend through the cap-pieces f f of the standards F F and engage coiled springs L, interposed between the said screws and the bearings 7t. Lock-nuts f serve to hold the set-screws in their adjusted positions. A guide-block M is fixed to the uprights F F outside of the feed-rollers andis provided with perforations on, one for each of the grooves g g, in each set of feed-rollers, in the present instance with four perforations, for the purpose of directing the rods or cords N of powder into the grooves between the feedrollers. The guide-block M has projecting from its inner face tubular guides m, the interiors of which form a prolongation of the perforations m in the guide-block and the free ends of which extend into proximity to the faces of the upper and lower feed-rollers near the point where they engage the rod or cord of powder. A second guide-block MT is located between the feed-rollers and the cutting-wheel and provided with perforations corresponding to the perforations in the guideblock M and in alinement therewith, and from the guide-block M guide-tubes m project toward the faces of the upper and lower feedrollers to a point near where the feed-rollers leave the rod or cord of powder and conduct the rod or cord along through the perforations in the inner guide-block M into position to be cut by the cutters c on the cuttingwheel. The rods or cords of powder are thus directed along predetermined paths, one for each rod or cord, into engagement with the feed-rollers and thence through the second guide-block into proximity to the cutters. The inner face of theguide-block M is raised slightly in proximity to the discharge-mouths of the perforations therein, as shown at m and the edges of the knives c as the cuttingwheel rotates travel in close proximity to the raised face m so that the latter acts as the stationary shearin cutting the grain of povv der from the rod or cord.

In operation the rods or cords of powder are fed at a predetermined speed with respect to the rotary movement of the cutting-wheel because of their geared connection to the shaft of the cutting-wheel, and no matter how fast or how slowly the cutting-wheel may rotate the grains will be of equal size. ever, it is desired to vary the lengths of the grains, the gear intermediate of the wheels E and I may be shifted to make the feed slower or faster, and thereby increase or decrease the length of the grain, while the knives on the cutting-wheel retain their position. For conveniently making this change of gearwheels to increase or decrease the length of the grain we mount the gear-wheel I and its pinion 1 as well as the pinion 1 on a supporting-plate I fulcrumed on the shaft I of the gear-wheel I and fixed to the frame A at its opposite end by means of a clamping-bolt t', extending through the plate 1 into the frame A through a vertically-elongated slot 2" in the plate. This arrangement admits of shifting the pinion I for a larger one and the gearwheel I for a correspondingly smaller one and at the same time adjusting the plate I to accommodate the position of the gear-wheel When, how- E and without disturbing the relative position of the pinion I and gear-wheel I.

In the present instance We have shown four knives on the cutting-wheel arranged at a quadrants distance apart. It is obvious that the grains might be doubled in size by removing two diametrically opposite knives without otherwise changing the machine and that they might be quadrupled in size by removing three of the knives. It is further obvious that the knives might be increased in 10 umber or arranged at equal spaces apart at intervals of one-third of the circumference or one-fifth of the circumference to vary the size of the grains instead of changing the gear, if so desired. As the grains are out from the rods or cords they are permitted to fall freely between the opposite disks 0 O of the wheel downwardly into a suitable receptacle. (Not shown.) They are prevented from flying up wardly and outwardly between the disks by means of a casing O, hinged at 0 to the supporting-bed to be thrown back at pleasure to expose the wheel.

What we claim is l. A powder-granulating machine comprising a cutting-wheel having its knives set transversely across its periphery with their outer faces in the peripheral surface of the wheel and means for feeding one or more rods or cords of powder along predetermined paths, one for each rod or cord, into the path of the knives, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination with the cutting-wheel comprising a pair of disks spaced apart and cutting-knives fixed transversely to the peripheries of the disks with their outer faces in the plane of the peripheries of the disks, of a guide having its face in proximity to the path of the knives and means for forcing one or more rods or cords of powder along predetermined paths, one for each rod or cord, through the guide into engagement with the knives, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination with the cutting-wheel and its knives, of guides for directing one or more rods or cords of powder to the knives, the said guides being provided with tubular extensions extending toward one another into proximity to the adjacent portions of the feedrollers and feed-rollers arranged to engage the rods or cords of powder intermediate of the free ends of the tubular guides, substantially as set forth.

4;. The combination with the cutting-wheel and the guides for directing one or more rods or cords of powder to the cutting-wheel, of feeding-rollers provided with grooves corresponding to the openings in the guides and arranged to engage the rods orcords of powder intermediate of the guides substantially as set forth.

I 5. The combination with the cutting-wheel and the guides for directing one or more rods or cords of powder to the cutting-wheel, of

the upper and lower feed-rollers arranged to engage the rods or cords of powder intermeting-knives, and means for varying the relative movements of the feed mechanism and I5 cutting-Wheel, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention we have signed our names, in presence of two witnesses, this 10th day of January, 1899.

MONROE P. WILKINS. HENRY ASPINWALL.

Witnesses:

FREDK. HAYNES, GEORGE BARRY, Jr. 

